Coastside Deputies Recover Stolen Vehicle On Highway 1

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — An automated license plate reader led Peninsula authorities to a stolen vehicle driving on Highway 1 over the weekend, officials said Monday.

According to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, the reader flagged the car traveling north on Highway 1 near Princeton on Sunday afternoon, just a few hours after it was reported stolen from the town of Soquel in Santa Cruz County.

Deputies from the Coastside Bureau responded to the area and spotted the vehicle traveling south on the highway, just north of the Tom Lantos Tunnels, officials said.

The investigators pulled the vehicle over and took the driver into custody without incident. The sheriff's office identified the driver as Jose Ramirez Lopez, 23, of Santa Cruz. He was booked into the Maguire Correctional Faciity on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle and driving with a suspended license.